Check your credit report for errors

Many people have credit errors they are unaware of, which could be hurting your credit. If you have recently been denied credit or a loan, it is important to check your credit report for errors.

The FTC has found that an estimated 1 in 5 consumers has an error on their credit report, which could be causing you to pay higher interest rates and insurance premiums, or to be denied credit.

When checking your credit report for errors, you should look for some of the most common credit report errors such as incorrect personal information, accounts that do not belong to you, potential identity theft accounts, closed accounts that report as open, duplicate accounts, inaccurate payment history, or incorrect balances on your credit report.

If you have filed for bankruptcy, checking your credit report after bankruptcy can also help you discover credit report errors that could be harming your credit. After filing bankruptcy, you should check your credit report to ensure discharged debts are reported as closed, included in bankruptcy and with $0 balances. If an account is reported as open, or with an existing balance after bankruptcy, this could mislead creditors and lenders and make you appear to be a riskier candidate for credit. If your debt was charged-off or assigned to collections prior to filing bankruptcy, you should also ensure that these accounts report as closed, with $0 balances, and remarks that indicate the account was included in or discharged in bankruptcy.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR CREDIT REPORT

How to read your credit report and understand your credit report is essential to performing a credit check. The national consumer reporting agencies Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion maintain your personal credit information and are commonly referred to as the credit bureaus.

Credit reports contain personal information such as names, date of birth, addresses, public records, and financial information, including past or existing credit card accounts or loans. Checking your personal information is important to ensure that your credit report does not contain information belonging to someone else. If you see an address you do not recognize on your credit report, this could signal potential identity theft.

Public records on your credit report typically include things such as bankruptcy, and in the past, civil judgments.

Each individual account or tradeline appearing on your credit report typically includes the following categories of information reported by furnishers of this information such as creditors or collectors to the credit bureaus:

Name of Creditor: the name of the bank, lender or credit card company.

Account Number: the unique account number associated with your account or loan.

Account or Loan Type: these include (1) "installment" accounts such as automobile loans, mortgage loans, and student loans, (2) "revolving" accounts such credit cards or home equity lines of credit, and (3) "open" accounts such as a utility bill or cellular telephone bill.

Account Balance: the current amount owed.

Past Due: whether there is a past due amount.

High Balance: the highest reported balance on the account.

Account Status: this can indicate whether the account is open, current, past due, charged-off, in collections, settled for less than the full balance, or included in or discharged in bankruptcy.

Date Updated: the date the account information was updated by the furnisher.

Date Opened: the date the account was opened.

Responsibility: this indicates whether you are individually responsible for the account or whether there is a joint accountholder.

Payment History: this will indicate whether past payments have been made on time or late. Most late payments reported on credit reports will report the days past due, such as 30, 60, 90, 120, and beyond. Alternatively, late payments can be reported by codes such as 1, 2, 3, 4, and beyond denoting a certain length of time (for example 1 can mean 30 days late).

Remarks: like the Account Status, this can indicate whether the account is open, current, past due, charged-off, in collections, or included in or discharged in bankruptcy.

​Collection Accounts on your credit report will typically report similar information, and include the following additional information:

Original Creditor: the name of the original bank, creditor, or lender.

Original Balance: the balance prior to collections.

WHAT TO DO ABOUT CREDIT REPORT ERRORS

Should I dispute my credit report myself or hire an Attorney?If you find a credit report error, you should contact an attorney familiar with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Attorneys that help with credit report errors typically market or advertise services as consumer attorneys, or consumer protection attorneys. A consumer lawyer can help you dispute credit report errors by writing effective credit disputes to the credit bureaus.

Some attorneys will help you dispute your credit report with the credit bureaus for free. This is because if your credit dispute is denied, you may be a good candidate for an FCRA lawsuit, in which case the attorney will typically work on a contingency basis because of the fee-shifting provisions in the FCRA.

You can also dispute credit report errors for free by filing a dispute directly with the credit bureaus yourself. We recommend that you dispute credit report errors in writing with the credit bureaus. Although credit bureaus allow you to dispute your credit report online, there are often benefits to writing your own dispute and including the details of your credit dispute and any supporting documentation.

You should be cautious when dealing with non-attorneys such as credit repair companies, or persons asking you to pay money up front who make promises guarantees. Remember: the bureaus do not charge you to dispute your credit report, in other words, you can dispute your credit report for free.

Disputing YOUR CREDIT REPORT

How to dispute errors on your credit report.

When preparing a credit report dispute, you should provide a detailed explanation of the credit report error. A detailed description of the reason your credit report is inaccurate will help you resolve credit report errors. You can also include supporting documents with your dispute.

​Your dispute should contain the following information:

Full Name

Current Address

Date of Birth

Social Security Number

The File Number or Report Number contained on your credit report (this may not always be applicable)

Identify the disputed item(s) by Account Name and Account Number

The dispute should be mailed to the credit bureaus, and not the bank, creditor, or lender that reports inaccurate information (also known as the "furnishers" of information).

​You should mail your credit report dispute to the credit bureaus at the addresses listed on their websites (please be sure to check for up-to-date addresses):

Please be sure to mail your credit report dispute by certified mail so that you can prove that the dispute was mailed if necessary.

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER I DISPUTE MY CREDIT REPORT?

After you dispute your credit report, the bureaus are required to perform a reinvestigation of your credit dispute. Depending on the type of credit dispute, the credit bureau may be able to make changes to your credit report based on the information you provide with your dispute. In other cases, the credit bureau will contact the company reporting the information you disputed (also known as “furnishers”) and ask them to review your credit dispute.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the credit bureaus must complete their review of your dispute dispute within 30 days (unless you have supplemented your existing credit report dispute with additional information during this time. At the conclusion of this review, the bureaus will notify you of the results of your credit dispute.

If your dispute is resolved, you are typically not required to do anything else.

​If your credit dispute is not resolved, you have certain rights, including, appealing the results of your credit dispute with the bureaus, sending another credit dispute, or filing a lawsuit under the FCRA.

If your credit report dispute is denied by the credit bureaus, you should speak to a knowledgeable FCRA lawyer. You may be a good candidate for an FCRA lawsuit.

We offer free phone consultation and credit reviews by phone. If we accept your case, we will handle your matter on a contingency fee basis, meaning we will not charge you any attorneys' fees unless we recover money from the defendant(s).

​You may contact us using our contact form below or by calling our office at (313) 415-5559.

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